The Mill on the Floss

The Mill on the Floss

by

George Eliot

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Philip Wakem Character Analysis

Philip is the only son of Mr. Wakem, a wealthy lawyer who becomes the enemy of Mr. Tulliver, and by extension, Tom Tulliver. Philip has a physical “deformity,” a hunchback, which makes him feel depressed and insecure. However, he is also very intelligent, sensitive, and gifted. He maintains an uneasy friendship with Tom—who admires Philip’s intelligence but has contempt for his disability—when they both study with Mr. Stelling. When Maggie comes to visit Tom, Philip feels an instant kinship, since they share many intellectual and artistic interests. Philip falls in love with Maggie and begins meeting secretly with her in the woods around Dorlcote Mill, where he gives her books and encourages her reading and cultural interests. However, the hatred between the Wakems and the Tullivers thwarts their romance. Philip’s love is further frustrated by Maggie’s attraction to and elopement with Stephen Guest, even though she doesn’t go through with the marriage. However, he ultimately forgives Maggie, apologizing for pressing his romantic feelings on her when she might not have felt the same. Philip’s compassion and sensitivity make him an important figure in Maggie’s life, since he is one of the only people to recognize and support her deeper intellectual and emotional aspirations.

Philip Wakem Quotes in The Mill on the Floss

The The Mill on the Floss quotes below are all either spoken by Philip Wakem or refer to Philip Wakem. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Memory and Childhood Theme Icon
).
Book 2, Chapter 3 Quotes

“It’s part of the education of a gentleman,” said Philip. “All gentlemen learn the same things.”

Related Characters: Philip Wakem (speaker), Tom Tulliver
Page Number: 154
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 7 Quotes

When they did meet, she remembered her promise to kiss him, but, as a young lady who had been at a boarding-school, she knew now that such a greeting was out of the question, and that Philip would not expect it. This promise was void, like so many other sweet, illusory promises of our childhood; void as promises made in Eden […] impossible to be fulfilled when the golden gates had been passed.

Related Characters: Maggie Tulliver, Philip Wakem
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 174-175
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 5, Chapter 4 Quotes

“But it isn’t for that, that I’m jealous for the dark women—not because I’m dark myself. It’s because I always care the most about the unhappy people: if the blond girl were forsaken, I should like her best. I always take the side of the rejected lover in the stories.”

Related Characters: Maggie Tulliver (speaker), Philip Wakem
Related Symbols: Maggie’s Hair
Page Number: 306
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 5, Chapter 5 Quotes

“But you have always enjoyed punishing me—you have always been hard and cruel to me: even when I was a little girl, and always loved you better than any one else in the world, you would let me go crying to bed without forgiving me. You have no pity: you have no sense of your own imperfection and your own sins.”

Related Characters: Maggie Tulliver (speaker), Tom Tulliver, Philip Wakem
Page Number: 319
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 6, Chapter 8 Quotes

“We don't ask what a woman does—we ask whom she belongs to. It's altogether a degrading thing to you to think of marrying old Tulliver’s daughter.”

Related Characters: Mr. Wakem (speaker), Maggie Tulliver, Mr. Tulliver, Philip Wakem
Page Number: 394
Explanation and Analysis:
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Philip Wakem Quotes in The Mill on the Floss

The The Mill on the Floss quotes below are all either spoken by Philip Wakem or refer to Philip Wakem. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Memory and Childhood Theme Icon
).
Book 2, Chapter 3 Quotes

“It’s part of the education of a gentleman,” said Philip. “All gentlemen learn the same things.”

Related Characters: Philip Wakem (speaker), Tom Tulliver
Page Number: 154
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 7 Quotes

When they did meet, she remembered her promise to kiss him, but, as a young lady who had been at a boarding-school, she knew now that such a greeting was out of the question, and that Philip would not expect it. This promise was void, like so many other sweet, illusory promises of our childhood; void as promises made in Eden […] impossible to be fulfilled when the golden gates had been passed.

Related Characters: Maggie Tulliver, Philip Wakem
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 174-175
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 5, Chapter 4 Quotes

“But it isn’t for that, that I’m jealous for the dark women—not because I’m dark myself. It’s because I always care the most about the unhappy people: if the blond girl were forsaken, I should like her best. I always take the side of the rejected lover in the stories.”

Related Characters: Maggie Tulliver (speaker), Philip Wakem
Related Symbols: Maggie’s Hair
Page Number: 306
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 5, Chapter 5 Quotes

“But you have always enjoyed punishing me—you have always been hard and cruel to me: even when I was a little girl, and always loved you better than any one else in the world, you would let me go crying to bed without forgiving me. You have no pity: you have no sense of your own imperfection and your own sins.”

Related Characters: Maggie Tulliver (speaker), Tom Tulliver, Philip Wakem
Page Number: 319
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 6, Chapter 8 Quotes

“We don't ask what a woman does—we ask whom she belongs to. It's altogether a degrading thing to you to think of marrying old Tulliver’s daughter.”

Related Characters: Mr. Wakem (speaker), Maggie Tulliver, Mr. Tulliver, Philip Wakem
Page Number: 394
Explanation and Analysis: